Kansas Politics

Kansas Politics | U.S. House of Representatives from Kansas

2008-06-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

Kansas Politics - Kansas's United States Representatives

A Little Background

The United States House of Representatives is the second of two chambers of the United States Congress. The total number of U.S. Representatives is 435, with each state's number of Representatives determined by their relative population. Unlike the Senate, Representative terms are only two years. The presiding member of the House is called the Speaker, and they are elected by the members.

While the Senate was designed to protect each state's interests (thus everyone having essentially the same power), the House of Representatives is designed to promote the will of the people, thus its use of population as a measure of power. Also, because of the larger number of Representatives, each Representative's districts tend to be smaller and more homogeneous, making it typically far more partisan than the Senate (with a smaller group to represent, the likelihood of similar interests among the groups is higher, even if they are different from surrounding groups, making conflict much more likely).

Kansas' Representatives in the House

Kansas, because of its small population, has been allocated four members of the House of Representatives. Jerry Moran represents the first district; Nancy Boyda represents the second district; Dennis Moore represents the third district; and Todd Tiahrt represents the fourth district. As you will see, each district represents a very distinct, different demographic. Many times the interests of the citizens of each of these districts is very different.

Kansas Politics Jerry Moran

Jerry Moran represents the First District of Kansas in the United States House of Representatives. Born in Great Bend, Kansas May 29, 1954, Rep. Moran grew up in Plainville Kansas and attended Fort Hays State University and the University of Kansas. Rep. Moran has been a member of the House since 1997.

In the time Rep. Moran has been in the House he has demonstrated a very conservative voting record. His slogan is that he "will always put Kansans ahead of the pressures in Washington," and has demonstrated this by opposing No Child Left Behind and the Medicare Reform Package of 2003. Moran also opposed the troop surge in Iraq. Moran is on several committees, including Agriculture, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Veteran's Affairs.

Kansas Politics Nancy Boyda

Nancy Boyda represents the Second District of Kansas in the United States House of Representatives. Born August 2, 1955, Rep. Boyda attended William Jewel College and grew up a Republican before becoming a Democrat in 2003. She has been a member of the House since 2007.

Because she is so new there is not a lot of history regarding her voting record. If her campaign is any indication, Rep. Boyda will be a strong opponent of the war in Iraq and school vouchers and a strong proponent of renewable energy and gradual troop withdrawal from Iraq. Rep. Boyda is on the Armed Services Committee and the Agricultural Committee.

Kansas Politics Dennis Moore

Dennis Moore represents the Third District of Kansas in the United States House of Representatives. Born November 8, 1945 in Anthony, Kansas, he attended the University of Kansas and Southern Methodist University and is a former Assistant Attorney General of Kansas.

Rep. Moore is a Democrat and has served in his position since 1999. He was the first Democrat elected from that district in 37 years. Moore is on the Budget Committee and the Financial Services Committee. He has a strong Democratic voting record.

Kansas Politics Todd Tiahrt

Todd Tiahrt represents the Fourth District of Kansas in the United States House of Representatives. Born in Vermillion, South Dakota on June 15, 1951, Rep. Tiahrt attended Evangel College and Southwest Missouri State. He worked for Boeing until his election to congress in 1996.

A Republican, Tiahrt currently sits on the Appropriations, Intelligence Committees. As would be expected, Tiahrt has traditionally voted along party lines, taking an especially aggressive stance when it comes to offshore drilling in Alaska and other environmental issues. He is also responsible for an amendment which prohibits the ATF from releasing information from its firearms database to anyone other than a law enforcement agency in connection with a criminal investigation.

As you can see, each of the Representatives represents different demographic, political and social groups, making even a consensus in Kansas difficult. Of the four representatives, two are Democrats and two are Republicans. I hope you enjoyed meeting your United States Representatives.

Kansas Politics

Kansas Politics Heating Up This Year.

2008-05-19T12:04:00.000-07:00

With all the attention right now on the race for President of the United States, it is easy to forget about all of the seats up for election this year in the Kansas House of Representatives and the Kansas Senate. In the House, Kansas residents will have the opportunity to elect or re-elect all 125 seats. And in the Senate, 25 of the 40 seats will be up for grabs.

Why is this important? Well, in case you haven't noticed lately, there is some significant legislation (i.e. coal plants and identification requirements to vote) being proposed that is opposed by the governor, and the veto override is so close that a minor sway in the party politics of the House and Senate could lead to some very different outcomes from the Kansas government in the coming years. Currently the Senate is composed of 10 Democrats and 30 Republicans and the House of Representatives is composed of 78 Republicans and 47 Democrats.

In the northeast part of the state, almost all of the current Representatives and Senators will be seeking re-election. Courtesy of the Lawrence-Journal world:

State Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, will seek re-election; no challengers have filed yet.

State Rep. Anthony Brown, R-Eudora, has filed for re-election; no challengers have filed yet.

State Rep. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin City, will likely run for state Senate. Democrat Tony Brown has filed to run for the representative position.

State Rep. Ann Mah, D-Topeka, whose district includes part of Douglas County, has filed for re-election; no challenger has filed yet.

State Rep. Candy Ruff, D-Leavenworth, is retiring after 16 years in the Legislature. Laura Janas Gasbarre, a member of the Leavenworth City Commission, has filed as a Republican.

State Rep. Tom Sloan, R-Lawrence, has not announced his campaign intentions yet.

State Rep. Lee Tafanelli, R-Ozawkie, has filed for re-election; no challengers have filed yet.

State Rep. Kenny Wilk, R-Lansing, will retire after 16 years in the Legislature. Timothy Moran, a Democrat, and Connie O’Brien, a Republican, have filed for the position.

State Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, has filed for re-election; no challengers have filed yet.

State Sen. Roger Pine, R-Lawrence, has filed for re-election. Holland has indicated he may run against him.

This is just a small sample of the Kansas political landscape, but rest assured the rest of the State will just as competitive.

Kansas Politics.

Kansas Politics | Your U.S. Senators

2008-05-11T11:57:00.000-07:00

Everyone has an idea of the issues facing Kansas Politics. There are the coal plants, balancing the budget, the change in makeup of Legislature, and many other issues. What I have experienced, and must admit to myself, is that many people don't know much about who their political leaders are. They don't know what they look like, what they stand for, or what they've been doing. Although this information may not seem important, knowing your Legislators can pay huge dividends if you have any problems with anything in the future (I've seen first hand the work that Legislators can do for their constituents - it's worth giving it a shot). This holds true even if you have no interest in Kansas Politics.

In light of this lack of Kansas Politics knowledge, I thought I'd educate myself and you all by highlighting from time to time our Legislators. Today I've chosen our United States Senators.

Kansas Politics - U.S. Senate Background

The United States Senate is one of the two bodies of Congress responsible for making the laws we follow in the United States. Two Senators are elected from each state, for a total membership of 100. They serve six year terms and are generally more highly regarded than U.S. Representatives. U.S. Senators are responsible for, among other things, ratifying cabinet appointments and U.S. Supreme Court Justices by the President.

Kansas Politics - Sam Brownback

Sam Brownback is a Republican representing the State of Kansas in the Second Congressional District. Born in Parker, Kansas as the son of an agricultural family, Brownback has been a champion of Kansas Farmers both in Kansas Politics and national politics. Brownback attended Kansas State University and after receiving his degree earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Kansas.

Brownback is also known as a staunch conservative with deeply religious convictions. His religious conviction was most recently put to the test in his bid for President when in a debate he voiced his belief that evolution doesn't exist. Needless to say that may not have been the brightest moment for Kansas Politics.

Brownback is a member of the Judiciary Committee, the Senate Appropriations Committee, and the Joint Economic Committee. As of August 12, 2007, Brownback has missed 123 votes due to campaigning (39.7%). His voting absence is second among the 100 senators.

Kansas Politics - Pat Roberts

Pat Roberts is a Republican Representing the First Congressional District of Kansas. He has been involved in Kansas Politics for quite some time, first as a reporter, and then as a representative. Born in Topeka, Kansas, Roberts' family has been the publisher of the Oskaloosa Independent, which claims to be the second oldest newspaper in Kansas.

Roberts graduated from Kansas State University in 1958 with a degree in Journalism. After college, Roberts worked for several Arizona newspapers before accepting a position on Kansas Senator Frank Carlson's staff. Since that time Roberts has been heavily involved in Kansas Politics.

Roberts served in the United States House of Representatives from 1980 until 1997, where he succeeded Nancy Kassebaum. He serves on the Committee on Finance, the Committee on Agriculture, and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Generally, Roberts's voting record is staunchly conservative, stepping in line with Kansas Politics generally. He is pro-life, opposes same sex marriage, is for the Patriot Act, and loosening restrictions on wire tapping. He also voted to suspend Habeas Corpus for all those deemed to be "enemy combatants" by the Executive Branch and gave immunity to any violations of Habeas Corpus in this scenario for the preceding nine years.

Kansas Politics

Kansas Politics | Coal Plant Legislation Denied

2008-05-02T18:52:00.000-07:00

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius Vetoes Coal Plant Legislation.

If you haven't been living in Kansas or Colorado or Texas or anywhere in the Midwest, you have missed what has shaped up to be one of the biggest political fights in quite some time. To summarize the last six to eight months, Sunflower Electric Corp., a Kansas based company, and two out of state partners, teamed up to try to bring two 700 megawatt coal fired electric plants to southwestern Kansas. To build these enormous structures, Sunflower was required to get approval from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, an agency saddled with the unenviable task of determining air quality and other environmentally sensitive issues for utilities and a myriad of other services.

Here is where it gets interesting. The KDHE is run by Rod Bremby (pictured below), a cabinet member of Governor Kathleen Sebelius (also pictured below). Governor Sebelius is staunchly against the new power plants for several reasons, but mainly because of the carbon dioxide that will be put into the air. After considering the permit request, Bremby denied the permit, citing the excess CO2 that would be expended. The problem for those in favor of the project is that CO2 emissions aren't technically recognized as a pollutant for the purposes of the KDHE.

- Rod Bremby

Governor Kathleen Sebelius -

After being denied, Republican leaders felt this was a purely political decision and decided to circumvent the KDHE by passing legislation approving the coal-fired electric plants. The problem, though, is that Governor Sebelius continued to stand in the way threatening to veto any legislation related to the plants - and she did.

Feeling they had enough votes to override the veto (2/3 majority required to override the veto, or 84 of 125 in the House and 27 of 40 in the Senate), Republicans began the process to override the veto, which included essentially locking the Representatives and Senators in the Chamber until everyone's vote was cast (and everyone had a chance to "convince" those leaning the other direction that they should switch sides). After all the chaos, which I consider to be Kansas politics at its best, the Senate had enough votes to override the veto (32 of 39 cast), but the House came up a mere 4 votes shy. The veto override was defeated.

The House, led by House Speaker Republican Melvin Neufeld, who, by the way, at the beginning of the debate argued that additional CO2 in the air might actually be good for the environment since plants thrive on CO2, was understandably devastated and vowed to fight on in any way possible. Who knew what they'd decide to do next?

Legislators Decide to Sue Governor Sebelius Over Veto of Coal Plants.

Yesterday the Kansas House of Representatives decided that the only thing left to do was try to sue the Governor for vetoing their bill. They passed a resolution to allow the Legislature to sue the Governor over her decision. Apparently the Republican leadership in the House believed the Governor threatened to sue lawmakers if they overrode her veto, so they are fighting fire with fire.

What Does this Say About Kansas Politics and the Kansas Political Process?

This is clearly politics, and Kansas Politics, at its best. This is straight out of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. There are two sides to a very important issue - the environment. And even though the split is down party lines (other issues make the split easier to envision - big business, government regulation of business, economics, etc.), the reason people are split is because they are actually either for or against the proposed legislation, instead of basing their feelings on the letter denoting the representation of the party.

What is not exciting about this process is the immature holding on of an issue that seems to be dead at this point. What I mean by that is instead of circling the wagons to get some other legislation passed, legislation that has some carrots for some opposing lawmakers to get their votes switched in lieu of a veto, the Republican leadership is threatening to sue the Governor for separation of powers issues. Clearly this is a desperate attempt to shift blame for being unable to come up with the votes needed to override the veto. Everyone knows you can't sue the Governor for overriding a bill - it is a power that enumerated in the Kansas Constitution. A governmental power doesn't get any higher than that.

It is refreshing to see the political process, and the political process in a state like Kansas, really working hard to represent both sides of an issue because their constituents actually support it and because it falls into the party's core values. This is politics at its best, and Kansas Politics at its best.

Welcome to Kansas Politics.

2008-04-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Kansas Politics, providing news, discussion, and analysis of Kansas Politics. Although those who have never spent any time in Kansas may think the state is made up of a bunch of red-neck Republicans, there are actually a wide mix of viewpoints and ideologies that, when coupled with some hot button issues, can make for some pretty interesting action.

So join me in a journey through Kansas politics, and enjoy the ride!